Page 24 of Spock’s Snare

"I intend to."

He climbs into his vehicle and drives away, leaving another trail of dust across the gravel.

I watch until the SUV disappears, then turn back toward the construction site. We’re making solid progress on the site. We should be able to complete the internal work in a few weeks, and the external projects will take about that long. Six to eight weeks, and we should be done.

"That looked important."

The familiar voice immediately puts me on edge.

I turn to find Blackwood striding toward me with his hard hat tucked beneath one arm. His expression is carefully neutral, but I've worked with him long enough to recognize the irritation simmering beneath the surface.

“Was that Scaro?” he asks.

I nod. “Yeah, he wanted a tour of the site and an update on our progress. He seems pretty happy.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?” I ask.

“He wasn’t upset about the problems that we’ve been having and the potential delays?”

“We haven’t had any delays,” I remind him. “We’re still on schedule. Although I was surprised that he knew about the attack on my father.”

“Don’t you think he had a right to know?”

“Are you the one who told him?”

A flash of guilt crosses over Blackwood’s face before he hides it. “He’s the client. He has a right to know that we’re running into problems. It would look bad on you if he found out some other way. I was only protecting you.”

“You think you’re protecting me by sharing my business with a client? That’s ridiculous. You work for me. Try to remember that, unless you want to stop working for me.”

Blackwood throws his free hand into the air.

“I was only looking out for the reputation of this company. How do you think Scaro would have reacted if he heard about the attack from someone else? He’d think you were hiding something.”

“I’m not arguing with you. Don’t share my business.”

“Fine. I won’t. What did he say? Is he concerned?”

“He was concerned about my dad, yes. He wasn’t concerned about the project. I told him that we were getting additional security. He seemed fine with it, especially since it won’t cost him anything.”

"The Demon Dawgs," he sneers.

"Yes."

“I can’t believe you’re trusting a bunch of bikers. That’s stupid. How do you know that they aren’t the ones causing problems?”

“Why would they? They hired us. They want us to finish this project so we can focus on Inferno Ridge.”

“You expect me to believe that’s all they want?”

I stare at him in confusion. “What else would they want?”

“You.”

“Me?” I laugh. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t,” Blackwood snarls, sticking his finger in my face. “Don’t play me for a fool. I can see what’s happening. I see the way he looks at you.”